Site-Wide Activity

The Marriott Center opened in 1971. I have no idea what condition it is in because I have never been there. It is old though. And BYU signed the top recruit in the nation. I suspect the 7mil of NIL cash had a larger impact on the recruit’s decision than the age of the basketball arena- though perhaps that is being overly skeptical.

If there is a…[Read more]

I agree — a JMH Center replacement would be very welcome, from my standpoint. Have some great memories there but it is extremely dated, hard to get to, and the environment with it half-empty is just a buzzkill. I know it probably isn’t priority 1 for the athletic department but it would motivate me to go to several more games each season.

I wish I could peek in on a parallel universe where Craig Smith just let’s his best (its all relative) players just play, and would quit tinkering with minutes and lineups. I don’t think you can overestimate the value of reps at game speed. And I’d feel a bit different if I thought that there were players (like Keller) that are getting minutes…[Read more]

I made the same comment about 3-4 weeks ago, and go similar replies. I think it has a bigger impact on recruiting than people realize.

10% increase.

This would affect like 50 students. Student support is pathetic, and has nothing to do with convenience of the venue. The only decision that has been made is that the Huntsman Center will be razed. There’s a number of locations being studied, and it’s far from decided that it will be an arena off-campus.

I don’t disagree for basketball (men’s or women’s), but what do you do about gymnastics pulling 15k into the stadium? I haven’t been around the campus in a while, but seems like there’s more non-sports events at Kingsbury than JHC (concerts, etc.). For graduations, a smaller arena is fine as only 1/2 of the JHC is used. I would assume they’d keep…[Read more]

You make some good points, sir.

I am in the minority of Utah fans who love our basketball program more than our football program, and I just want the Runnin Utes to be relevant again. I hate watching the greatness of March Madness every year and not seeing Utah in it. I think a new arena would help inject new life into the program (mostly from a…[Read more]

I wonder how a downtown arena would affect the student fans? It would be easier for non student fans to get to games, but I wonder if having the game elsewhere downtown would make student attendance take a hit?

Obviously there’s no ideal solution.

I wish I lived in Utah so I could get season tickets.

Though, I’m currently on a 5 game losing streak of games I’ve attended…. So maybe for the good of the team I shouldn’t go to live games anymore.

Well, it is old, but I like it and thinks its fine. I don’t know that I’d spend the money to replace it. I’d first say, putting a winning product on the court and see if it can fill up again consistently. If the U didn’t have a problem filling it during the Majerus years they shouldn’t now when the population has grown exponentially.

That said,…[Read more]

Off campus arenas are not ideal in most cases, but I’m not sure if that’s true in our case. The U is poorly located with respect to how our major roadways are laid out in the valley. Did you ever notice that our belt route is only 3/4 of a circle, and the missing 1/4 is right where the U is? It would be a different story if the belt route actually…[Read more]

The admin has said for a while the long range plan is to build a new arena downtown, smaller 10-12K. Apparently too expensive to renovate the Huntsman Center and the U wants the land for other uses. Dont know how the curent budget deficit affects that.

p.s. yes, I agree that off campus arenas are not ideal (look at Georgetown) but dont shoot…[Read more]

I agree that the JMC is a little dated but it is still a fine place to see a game. Replacing it would cost a fortune- so from where would the funding come? Would the funding be better spent on the team?

If funding could be obtained I would much rather see a winning team in the JMC, than more poor play in a shiny-new arena.

Given the weird…[Read more]

I think Burgess is finished at Utah and he knows it. He had to have known that when he basically trashed the owners house on the way out the door.

I’d like to see Miller or Jensen as coach, or some up and comer somewhere.

I actually think that’s why Smith will be back next year. Because Utah isn’t really taking basketball seriously right now, there is no appetite for buying out another coach and go looking for another (who most likely won’t do any better because he faces the same obstacles Smith did).

I fully expect Smith to be back next year. And I think I’m OK…[Read more]